ABCs of Edward Elric
by ARTandWORK
Summary: 26 drabbles on the life of Edward Elric. K for now, no pairings.
1. A' is for 'Automail'

Hi there. My name's Eric, nice to meet y'all! I was introduced to thanks to thebestIcan, so blame her! This is my first fiction, actually the first installment of my first fiction. More to come later this week, if it is received well.

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ABCs of Edward Elric

'A' is for 'Automail'

Automail is a brilliant invention.

A fully functional prosthetic limb, capable of practically any motion one could do with flesh and bone, sometimes exceeding them. While it was a hassle to maintain, and there was always the chance of a complete system failure, automail had benefits that Nature couldn't succeed in giving the human race.

While copper wires are used to replace the intricate network of the nervous system, they cannot give the same feedback to the brain necessary for the sense of touch. This, however, allowed those living a more adventurous lifestyle freedom from pain. The mechanics of the limb often provided a range of strength and force from a soft caress to crushing stone. Flexible 'joints' allowed a range of motion that would make the most limber gymnast envious.

Strong, yet dexterous. Efficient and durable.

Edward slipped the metallic fingertips of his right hand into his glove, watching as the white cloth slid over the smooth surface. Wiggling the digits into the respective fingers, Ed gave a sharp tug. The sound of ripping polyester filled the room and the young State Alchemist scowled. Golden eyes narrowed at the torn fabric that had caught in the joint of the thumb now sticking out of the ruined glove awkwardly.

Scratch that. Automail sucks.

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Reviews are love.


	2. B' is for 'Books'

Hi again. Okay, I was originally going to keep it to third person, but I couldn't resist. I've also decided that the drabbles will contain info from the series as well as the movie. This one's set in Heiderich's point of view.

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ABCs of Edward Elric

'B' is for 'Books'

He's reading again.

Edward is once again lying across the tattered old sofa in our little apartment, his eyes scanning one of my many engineering books, his tongue stuck between his teeth as the words process themselves into his mind. This wouldn't bother me as much if he had actually moved from that exact position since I last saw him like that four hours previous. He reads morning, noon and night. I've even been forced to ban books from mealtimes.

I throw down the drafts and prints I had under my arm down onto the kitchen table, pulled off my blazer, tossing it onto a chair and I walk back into the living room. Fists on my hips, I stare down at him, frown deepening when he doesn't even notice I'm there; He just reaches up with a false hand to swipe his golden hair out of his more so golden eyes. I huff, reaching out to grab his boots and using them as leverage to swing his legs off the sofa where he was surely muddying up the upholstery. He gave a shout of surprise, tossing his arms, and my book, up into the air to counter the movement as to not fall off the sofa.

I miraculously catch the volume before it hits the floor, snapping it shut and watching as Edward's eyes flicker from the book to my face, wide with shock and his mouth agape. Finally, he stands from his seat, a glare replacing his awestruck look and he rolls up his sleeves.

"Oy, Alfons! What gives? I was reading that!"

I sigh and turn, making my way back to my drafts and prints, pulling off a rubber band and flattening a design for the new engine onto the table. I don't bother to look over my shoulder as I speak, eyes narrowing at a flaw in the equations.

"That's all you do! That's how you'll snuff it, reading! They'll find you dead with your nose in a book!"

I hear the springs in the sofa as he sits back down and my eyes widen as I catch his mumbles, something startlingly like 'that's not how it happened last time.'

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So that one had a bit of a twist at the end. Some will be serious, some not. This one I thought was kinda in between. Remember, reviews are love.


	3. C' is for 'Cats'

Hi again. Chapter three.

I noticed I haven't disclaimed anything yet. Sorry, FMA isn't mine. Lawyers are such interesting people.

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ABCs of Edward Elric

'C' is for 'Cats'

Edward could feel it coming. That familiar tickle in the back of his nose and spreading down his nostrils, then out along his cheeks as it followed his sinuses. It spread down the back of his throat and he noticed the slow build up of pressure as he took each breath, which he held in attempt to keep it from coming. His nose twitched, trying to relieve that tickle, trying to halt it in its tracks, but to no avail. His eyes were beginning to water and his lip trembled slightly from the effort of keeping it in. He couldn't take it any more and he took a deep breath, preparing for its arrival.

It didn't come and he waited. One minute, two minutes… He huffed as he let his breath out.

The sneeze caught him completely off guard, so violent it shook his shoulders. His eyes squeezed shut and his nose wrinkled, teeth clenched and hands fisted. The sound alone was loud enough to echo off the walls and he was sure that if anyone was passing by the dorm room, they would run in fear. His eyes were still watering as he sniffed, jaw set and voice low.

"Al."

The suit of armor that carried his little brother's soul jumped and the voice from somewhere behind Edward's chair was laced with guilt.

"Yes Brother?"

Edward didn't turn round to face him, rather reaching for the box of Kleenex that sat on the corner of the desk where he had been reading, voice still menacing.

"Get that damned cat out of your armor and back outside!"

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I admit that Edward and I wouldn't agree on this subject. I am a lover of cats. I'm going to be the 'Crazy Cat Man' one day, more than likely.


	4. D' is for 'Deadlines'

Sorry guys, I had so many different versions for "D" I couldn't decide which to use. Here it is.

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ABCs of Edward Elric

"D" is for "Deadlines"

"_I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams_

I glance up at the clock on the wall, frown deepening as it always does the day a report is due from my subordinates. The minute hand had crept passed the mark of ten o-clock, passed ten thirty, passed eleven, and yet my office was still empty. There was no slamming of my office door, there were no sarcastic comments or muddy boots on my leather couch. There was no massacring of my rank.

The Fullmetal Alchemist was late again.

I have tried time and time again to drill the virtue of punctuality into that boy, but he stubbornly refuses to arrive when called upon for a certain time. It would only lead to snide comments as his short fuse, matched only by his short stature, blows. The headache was already beginning to throb behind my eyes as I thought of it.

My ears pricked at the sound of heavy boots as they made their way to my office, and I counted down the seconds. Three, two, one… The door swung open, bouncing loudly off the wall and a rather rough looking blond boy stood in the doorway, a scowl set firmly upon his features. I noticed a small cut on his lip, the slight yellow of a fading black eye, and how he favored his automail leg rather than his right. This explained his glare as he stepped towards me, leaning his hands on my desk and beginning his usual post-mission rant.

"Okay, bastard colonel, what was the big idea?! A grand sweeping total of forty people in that town! No lead, as you had promised, no alchemist, again as you had promised and no reason for me to go out there! Just a bunch of very unfriendly locals!"

As the pint sized alchemist caught his breath, I looked up from paperwork I had been signing, placing my pen down and bridging my fingers as I stared back into his glinting eyes. I couldn't help the smirk that crept onto my lips.

"Those short legs of yours just can't get you here on time, can they?"

The bruised jaw was worth seeing that angry face.

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We all know reviews are love.


	5. E' is for 'Equivalent Exchange'

Sorry this took so long to get out guys. College hit.

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ABCs of Edward Elric

"E" is for "Equivalent Exchange"

"You're being completely unfair!"

Edward Elric wrinkled his nose as he looked back at his best friend, watching as she crossed her arms. Winry Rockbell huffed, shaking her long blond hair out of her eyes and sticking out her lip. Edward watched her lean back in her chair across the table from him.

"My price is completely fair, Ed! I don't think much of your trading skills!"

"My skills of determining an equivalent exchange are perfect, thank you very much!"

Edward drummed his fingers on the wooden surface, glaring back at the girl, his face covered in a flush. He noticed the wrench sticking out of the pocket of her overalls, eye twitching as he imagined the feeling of it connecting with his cranium, sending a vibration through his skull that would shake his teeth and settle in his ears. He detested having to strike deals with this girl.

He glanced down at the box that sat between them, about three inches square and an inch thick. It weighed little more than 500 grams and Edward picked it up, listening as it contents rattled back and forth, the glittering red package catching the light. After weighing it slightly in his hand, turning it over and checking the packaging date, he sighed.

He turned his golden gaze at the tin that remained between them, noting that the top was dented and that the seal had not been opened, but tampered with. He wrinkled his nose again at this and read the name. It was a generic brand, not the best type and therefore not as valuable, but that could work to his advantage.

Hearing an impatient groan, he looked up to see Winry's eyes narrowed at him, waiting for him to make up his mind and name a price. Sticking out his lip slightly, he sighed and flipped open the end of the box.

"I'll give you four of my gumballs for your cream soda."

Winry slid the tin across the smooth surface of the table, her gloved hand held out to receive her prize.

"Done!"


	6. F' is for 'Funerals'

I tried over and over again to make this chapter a cheerier one. I failed. I'm sorry.

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ABCs of Edward Elric

'F' is for Funerals

Edward was well versed in the matter. He knew exactly how many different shades of black that people could wear: 14. He knew what flowers reflected the significance of the day: Carnations, tulips, all of them white. He knew that first would come the hearse, then the family car, then the rest who had come to morn. He knew exactly when to stay silent, when to laugh and when to weep.

When it was Winry's parents, he had been little more than a toddler. Nestled in his father's arms, he watched as the priest blessed the twin wooden boxes. He watched as Granny Pinako sobbed, her grasp tightening possessively around a sniffling Winry, as if to keep her close. He saw how his mother dabbed at her eyes and how his father was stiff, staring at the fresh patches of dirt side by side. He stared too, and even as a toddler, he knew this type of day was bad.

When it was his mother, Edward didn't utter a single word. He stood in the front, staring at the granite stone, his brother beside him weeping and Winry next to him, her hand around his. His head tilted forward, eyes swimming with tears and lip quivering. His feet were numb and he was cold from the coming night, but he didn't have the heart to leave with the others. He didn't want her to be by herself, out here in the cold with no one around. 'Leave the children be with their mother a while' he heard someone say. 'Leave the two alone.'

When it was Hughes, he had left his black jacket and pants, trading them for the standard military uniform that had lay in his dorm untouched for three and a half years. He stood silently in the back, watching the guard march the coffin with the Presidential crest and cap on top silently. He watched the 21 gun salute, still as stone. When Elysia cried, begging them not to bury her Papa, he broke down sobbing like a child.

Oh yes. Edward was well versed in the matter of funerals. But they never got any easier.


	7. G' is for 'Gold'

Hey guys, Eric again. I'm sorry that this took so long to get out. I know I made some mistake the last chapter, I'm sorry. After I've posted this, I'll hide my head in shame. Okay, this is my attempt at Edcentric. And a one, and a two...

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ABCs of Edward Elric

'G' is for 'Gold'

Gold is a constant in my life.

It is always there, a small, sometimes unpleasant reminder of who I am, of what I did, of where I went. If not the shining gleam of sunshine yellow of the metal, then the thick tarnished streak of it, marked with fingerprints and dirt and occasionally blood. Gold is everywhere.

Alphonse' hair used to shine gold among the sandy blonde. Not to the extent of my own, mind you, but clear and present under morning sun. His eyes had flecks of gold in the hazel, the small tributes to our father when Alphonse was otherwise undoubtedly his mother's son. And his personality was gold! The shining, pure goodness of it was worth more than any riches! Oh yes, even when the gold shimmer had left his body, replaced with cold iron, the shine of his personality was still blinding.

My watch was gold. White gold, though, forged into the sturdy frame that has miraculously survived the various scrapes and drops and abuse I've put it through over the years. I never took care of it. Maybe because of the fact that it meant I was still the military's dog, I saw it as more of a leash than a watch. There are fingerprints all over it, but a little spit polish and a rough rubbing on my coat and you can make out the finer details in the President's crest. The inside is still scratched up though.

I've been told I have golden eyes. I suppose that is the color of them, but when I look in the mirror all I see is that bastard Hoenheim. It was bad enough that I had his hair, his chin, his scowl, his damned talent for alchemy, for crying out loud! But now it's his eyes as well. That ragged and worn down look, tired and tarnished gold…

I hate gold.

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Well, that was... interesting. Not sure when the next one will be up.


	8. H' is for 'Hospitals'

Finally updating this, sorry it took so long. As a person who has spent a LOT of time in hospitals, I think I'll share some of the horrors.

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ABC's of Edward Elric

"H" is for "Hospitals"

"Gah, I hate this stuff!"

I looked up from my book at Brother, who had his flesh fingers pinching his nose shut as he spooned up another bite of 'dinner.' The small sheet of paper that marked the meal to ensure the patient was getting the right diet had said that it was chicken penne marinara, orange juice, tea and a chocolate chip cookie. It looked like macaroni with ketchup and canned chicken flakes, they forgot the juice, the tea had milk in it and the cookie made a sickening thud when Brother had accidentally dropped it against the tray. There were times I was glad that I couldn't taste a thing.

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Brother."

"I'd rather have another run in with Nurse Feely!"

Of course Brother would bring that up again. The poor man had only been doing his job, trying to help give Brother a sponge bath to keep the burns from getting infected. Brother hadn't wanted a male nurse in the first place (Though I think that has something to do with the pretty redheaded nurse he'd spotted when he'd been admitted) and had complained since day one that the man was "creepy." Nurse Rich was a nice enough man, but that didn't Brother from transmuting his scrubs into a sort of itchy wool that would surely give him a rash.

I shake my head as I watch him chew on a noodle, his lip curled up in the corner and he was eyeing the milky tea with distaste. I saw his flesh hand snake down and pull at the tape covering the burn on his right shin.

"Stop that."

"But they're itchy! I hate this! I hate hospitals!"

"Next time, don't put Jell-O in Mustang's gloves and you won't end up in one."

Brother's face split into a mischievous grin that said all too well 'it was worth it.'

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I knew I wanted this to be about hospitals, but I didn't know how Ed got hurt. It came to me while standing in Safeway looking at Jell-O. My mind works in the weirdest ways. The stockboy thought I was nuts when I burst out laughing.

No matter how good the meals sound, make friends with the guy at Tim Hortons.

Be kind to nurses. As far as things go in hospitals, they are God.


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